BRATISLAVA, Slovakia— The U.S. National Inline Team jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went on to a 4-2 victory over Finland here tonight in the gold-medal game at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Inline World Championship. Eight different players collected a point to help the U.S. to its record seventh gold medal in the event.
''We are absolutely thrilled to bring the gold medal back to USA Hockey!” said Joe Cook, head coach of the 2017 U.S. National Inline Team. “It's been an honor to coach this team it was an incredible effort from great players.''
Shane Fox (Sicklerville, N.J.) opened the scoring for Team USA 2:48 into the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
Just 22 seconds into the second stanza, P.J. Dimartino (Bohemia, N.Y.) came down the right side and fired one home that beat Finland netminder Samu Airasvaara to double the U.S. lead. Team USA increased its advantage to 3-0 when Travis Noe (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) converted 2:44 into the second frame after a pass from Cody Kettler (St. Louis, Mo.) and then Matt White (Whittier, Calif.) broke away from a Finnish defender on the left side and put one between the legs of Airasvaara with 4:09 remaining in the second frame. Finland got on the board late in the stanza to get back to within 4-1 heading into the second half of the game.
Finland scored on the power play with 46 seconds left in the third but would get no closer.
Troy Redmann (Brea, Calif.) made 23 saves to earn his fourth victory of the competition in goal for the U.S.
NOTES: For complete game stats, click here… U.S. players claimed two of the three directorate awards with Troy Redman named as the tournament’s top goaltender and Matt White as the top forward … The gold medal is the record fifth in top-level IIHF competition for the U.S. in 2017. Along with the gold medal captured tonight in the IIHF Inline World Championship, the U.S. also claimed gold in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship and 2017 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship … The U.S. has medaled in all but five of the 20 IIHF Inline World Championships staged, including seven gold medals (1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2017), four silver medals (1998, 2001, 2009, 2011) and four bronze medals (2000, 2003, 2005, 2014). There was no tournament held in 1999 or 2016.
Date | Opponent | TIme (Local/ET)/Result | Location | Live Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sun., June 25 | Slovakia | W, 8-1 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Mon., June 26 | Canada | W, 8-2 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Tues., June 27 | Croatia | W, 8-2 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Thurs., June 29 | Germany Quarterfinals |
W, 4-1 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Fri., June 30 | Czech Republic Semifinals |
W, 5-4 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Sat., July 1 | Finland Gold-Medal Game |
W, 4-2 | Ondrej Nepala Arena | IIHF |
Tag(s):